Terrorism and Moral Relativism

What is terrorism? Certainly it is the forcible seizure of foreign nationals, the threatening of lives for personal gain, and violence against innocents. Rafique Aziz is guilty of all of these acts, but so are other characters. Mitch Rapp siezes Fara Harut for information on an attack against the United States. Sherman Baxter threatens the lives of all of the hostages and the President of the United States when he refuses to allow the military to rescue them for fear of tarnishing his image. The definition of terrorism depends entirely on the perspective from which one views the events in question.

In the same way, decisions made in such a situation depend entirely on the goals of the decision-makers. The military rages against Baxter's decision to comply with Aziz's demands, even though doing so ensures the continued protection of the lives of hostages. In fact...